The conventional unfitted or flat bedsheet has long been used as the bottom sheet to cover a mattress. This kind of sheet is desirable because it will fit various mattresses, is easily cleaned, handled, and stored. However, these sheets require the lifting of the mattress to tuck the sheet under it and can easily work loose and become creased during normal movement of a sleeping person.
Contoured or fitted sheets overcome some of the problems associated with flat bedsheets by sewing an elastic strip around the bottom corners of the sheet to create pockets which fit around the four corners of the mattress. The sheet is tucked under the mattress for three corners than on the forth corner, the mattress is lifted up to allow the pocket of the sheet to be slipped over the corner of the mattress. Principle disadvantages of fitted sheets are they often wear out at the pockets, are bulky to store, wash, and handle.
The use of hook and loop fastening materials (such as VELCRO) on bedding and mattresses is well known. However, the strips are usually positioned at each corner or the sheet so that when the sheet is put over a mattress a pocket is formed in each of the four corners of the sheet. As a result, a large portion of the force exerted by a mattress on a tight fitting sheet is at the sheet's corners. The combination of shear, torque, and outwardly pulling tensile forces often causes the hook and loop fastening strips to pull loose. Further, the hook and loop strips can become attached to each other and other material making it difficult wash, handle, and store.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved bedding in which the sheet doesn't work loose and become creased during use, the corners don't fray from use, and is easily washed, handled, and stored.